Harry s



' (No Model.) r

' H. S. GAIL.

" DRILLING TOOL.

Patented r. 17,1388;

HARRY s. GAIL, on HIGH UNITED STATE DRILLING-TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters'Pat-ent No. 381,124, dated April 17, 1.888.:

Application filed AugustQB, 1887.

Toad Z whom; it mag concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY S. GAIL, a citizen of the United States, residingat Highland Park, Lake county, Illinois,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drilling -Tools, of which the following is a speciii' cation.

The object of myinvention is to make a drill- "ing-tool in which the jaws or cutting parts are automatically expanded when they meet resistanceand then looked in their expanded condition, and to provide means for locking and unlocking the jaws. and permitting them toregain their normal condition as the tool is elevated; and my invention consists in the features and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed. I

In the drawings, Figurel is a side elevation of my drilling-tool with portions broken away.

Fig. 2 is an edge elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a section taken on the line :0 w of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. 4 is a perspective elevation of the shank connecting with the'drill-'rod.

In the drawings, A represents the shank connecting with the drill-rod; B, a case or shell through which the shank A is inserted and in which the jaws are pivoted; C, the jaws or cutting portion of the tool; D, a bolt in the lower end of the shank A; d d, ears or lugs'in which the'bolt D is placed; E, a spring ar-. ranged outside of the shellB with a hook, e,- F, a'locking-piece'in theouter' end of which the hook e is inserted; f, the inner end of the locking-piece F turned at an angleto the main portion of the piece; 9 g, the pivots by which, the jaws O are connected to the shell B; h h, slots in the jaws 0, through which theboltD passes. L

Myimproved drilling-tool is more especially intended for and adaptedto thev drilling of wells .in whicha metal casing is to be inserted as the drilling of the well progresses. This casing'usually consists of iron pipe of small diameter-say from two inches to six inches in diameter. Of course these diameters are simply illustrative. The'casingismade in lengths or sections, and as the drilling of the well progressesone section aiteranother is inserted,

0 each forcing the sections below it farther down into the well.v The topjof the last section is al- Serial no. 247,635. "(No'modeld lowed to extend slightly above the ground, so. 1 that when anothersection is desired to be added itcan be screwed on, and then the pipe again forced downward. In this way a continuous "PATENT OFFICE;

LAND PA K, AssiG'NoR To F EDERICK 0.1m

on CHIOAGQILLINOIS. v

pipe or casing for the well is secured, and-all difficulty from caving or the crum bling of dirt? and pebbles avoided.

The difficulty has been a drill a hole 'of greater diameter .than the diameter of the casing, so that the casing co'nld be easily inserted as length after length'was 'required.'

This difficulty has grown-out of the fact that f the drilling-tool must be of a smaller diameter.

thanthe casing of the. well-when withdrawn, so that when the work was completed it couldbe removed. Unless the toolwas'made'expansible, so that it could be inserted and withdrawn through the tube'and expanded during its operation belowthe tube, it is obvious thatit would be impossible to drill a well in which" the holewould be of greater diameter than the tube, Expansible drilling tools have therefore been -employed; but no meanshas been devised or used to lock the jaws of the drilland unlock them, so that they could come together enough to allow the tool toberemoved through the casing. In such cases it has been found that the jaws of the drilling-tool from various causeswould fail to operate satisfacf torily, and no certain and uniform diameter of cut could' be depended upon. difficultiesand objections are obviated by-my while working below the well-casing, and thus insures a uniform and certain diameter of cut, so that the casing can be easily inserted from time to time, and which unlocksthe jaws, so

that they can resume their normal condition, Whenthe toolis elevated through the casing.

H ing-tool expanded while performing theirwork so All these .In making my improved d-rillin'gtool' I of I course employ a shank, (represented as A,) to which the drilling-rod by which the toolis raised and lowered is attached. Iemploy two jaws, G 0, having cutting-faces attheir lowe'r ends, as in ordinary cases. These jaws are pivoted at their upper. endsat g g to the lower" v end of the case B, through which the shank 1 A is inserted. .The lowerend of the shank A is provided with ears d d, and'the jaws G are providedvwith an enlarged portion or shoul I i der, 0, adapted to fall in between these jawsand below the end of the shank A. These enlarged portions 0 are each provided with a slot, h h, extending upward at an angle, as

shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. A bolt, D, 7

passes from the ear d through the slots h h and through the ear d, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. This bolt, passing through the ears and the slots, causes the jaws of the drillingtool to expand as it is forced down the slots and to come together as it is drawn up in the slots. The amount of expansion of the jaws can be made greater or less by the angle or length of the slots, as desired. The shank A is provided with a notch, I, as shown in Fig. :1, ntended to receive a locking-piece, F. Ih1s locking-piece extends beyond the shell 3 at its outer end, and is caught by a hook on a spring, E. This spring is fastened to the outside of the shell B and extends up somewhat above it, as shown in Fig. 2. The inner end of the locking-piece F is turned at an angle, as shown byf in Fig. 3. This bent portion of the locking-piece is adapted to fit in the notch I in the shank A, and the natural force and elasticity of the spring E draws it up into the notch I and retains it there in the absence of positive force to the contrary. As long as this bent piece f lies in the notch I of the shank, it is obvious that this shank will be held in a fixed and immovable position. I make the notch therefore at a point on the shank A as will bring it coincident with the bent portion of the locking-piece at the time the aws of the drilling-tool are expanded, as shown in Fig. 1. In this manner I lock the awsopen or at their posit-ion of widest expansion, and prevent their changing the degree of their expansion or the width of their cut unt1l positive force shall be applied to the spring E to depress it and push the bent portlon of the locking-piece F back out of the notch I in the shank A. This positive force will be applied by the iron tubing of the well, and the moment the drilling-tool is raised until it begins to enter the well-casing the edge of the casing will press against and upon the spring E and depress it, as the tool enters the casing, enough to press the piece f out of the notch I. In this way the jaws will be antomatically unlocked every time the tool is elevated through the casing of the well for any purpose.

Without more minute and detailed description, it will be seen that my improved drilling-tool will be locked during the whole of its operation beneath the casing of the well, so that the well will be drilled of a certain and uniform diameter throughout its whole extent, and that the jaws of the tool will be automatically unlocked whenever the tool is elevated. These advantages are secured by my devices and construction, and, so far as I know, they are to be found in no-other drilling-tool; and as the object of my invention is to make a drilling tool that shall be locked expanded when in operation and unlocked when elevated through the well casing, I'do not desire to be limited to every specific detail of construction so long as these results are secured by substantially the means wh h I have employed and described above. For instance, among the changes that will immediately suggest themselves to a skilled mechanic may be mentioned the fact that the ears or lugs d may be made integral with the shank A instead of in separate pieces fastened thereto, as shown in the drawings. One of the awsG may be rigidly bolted or otherwise fastened to the case B instead of being pivoted thereto, so that but one of the jaws would be pivoted and expansible. But one of the jaws need be slotted, as the movement of one from the other would expand the cutting or operat ng surface and cut an enlarged hole as readily as to have both of the jaws slotted, so as to each move apart from the other; and the notch I in the shank A may be a mere hole in or shoulder on the shank, so as to secure engagement with the locking-piece F and prevent its moving up and down in the case B. All these changes are so obvious that I do not deem it necessary to illustrate them in the drawlngs or suggest them further, and merely enumerate them to show that I have them in contemplation and intend my claims to apply to all such unimportant alterations.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a drilling'tool, ofa case, B, operating-jaws, one or both of which jaws are pivoted in the case B and provided 1 with an inclined slot, a shank, A, to which the drill-rod is attached,provided with a notch, I, and movable up and down in the case B, and terminating at its lower end in ears or lugs which embrace the jaws over the inclined slot, :1 bolt passing through the lugs on the drilling-shank and the slot in the jaw or aws, and a locking-piece, F, fitting into the notch IIO in the shank and preventing it from moving up and down in the case B, whereby the jaws are locked expanded, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a drilling-tool, of a case, B, operating-jaws, one or both of which jaws are pivoted in the case B and provlded with an inclined slot, a shank, A, to which the drill-rod is attached, provided with a notch, I, and movable up and down in the case B, and terminating at its lower end in ears or lugs which embrace the jaws over the inclined slot, a bolt passing through the lugs on the drilling-shank and the slot'in the jaw or jaws, a locking-piece, F, fitting into the notch in the shank and preventing it from moving up and down in the case B, and a spring, E, holding the locking-piece in the notch until positively.

pressed out of engagement, substantially as described.

Witnesses:

THOMAS A. BANNING, GEORGE 0. 000K.

HARRY S. GAIL. 

